NGOs estimate that since March 2022, Singapore has carried out the death penalty some 22 times. International entities such as the UN and Human Rights Watch have positioned themselves against this type of measure, while the Government defends the application of the law as a deterrent to prevent serious crimes.
First modification:
4 min
It is one of the safest, most developed and wealthiest city-states in the world. And the price to pay for those who break the law, in certain serious cases, is life.
This Friday, July 28, it was learned that Singapore executed a local citizen, identified as Saridewi Djamani, for trafficking about 30 grams of heroin. She is the first woman to be executed in 19 years in a context of an upswing in capital punishment applications for this type of crime.
The country is known for its heavy hand on certain crimes that carry a certain death sentence. According to the Singapore Narcotics Bureau (CNB for its acronym in English), “thehe law on the Misuse of Drugs provides for the death penalty if the quantity of diamorphine (heroin) trafficked exceeds 15 grams. 30.72 grams of diamorphine is more than double that amount and is enough to fuel the addiction of about 370 users for a week.”
This is not the only case pending by hanging, the method used to carry out the sentence. According to EFE, after having paused some execution processes in times of pandemic, Singapore vigorously resumed pending cases.
Earlier this week, a 56-year-old man was hanged for trafficking a similar amount to Djamani and another sentence is expected to take place on August 3.
Local non-governmental organizations argue that at least four people have passed through the gallows since last April. The number increases to 22 since March 2022.
“Boundless Inhumanity”
Several international organizations, such as the United Nations and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have criticized the behavior of the Singaporean authorities. For its part, the UN called for stopping the execution of Saridewi Djamani, however, the message of zero tolerance from the leadership of the city-state was higher.
He HRW deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, lashed out at the laws of the Asian country: “Singapore’s inhumanity towards people caught up in its draconian anti-drug law knows no bounds“, he claimed.
In a statement, Robertson alleged that “the government and the courts have moved like a machine, faster and faster, to make up for lost time, apparently intent on emptying death row as quickly as possible.”” after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The execution of Saridewi Djamani (…) shows that no one will be spared from the galloping effort to show that the government is tough on drugs,” he stressed.
A deterrent measure, defends the Government
Although local and national organizations, activists and NGOs criticize Singapore’s behavior, the government boasts that “with its harsh laws, including the death penalty” they have made the country one of the safest places in the world.
The deterrent effect, for the Government, is indisputable. According to the Ministry of the Interior (MHA) the reduction in serious crimes is significant after the introduction of the death penalty.
There are three “key considerations”, among others, for the imputation of the maximum sentence: the seriousness of the crime, the frequency of the offense and finally the “need for a high degree of deterrence” to prevent similar situations.
Capital offenses include intentional murder, terrorist acts such as bombing, gang robbery including murder, use of firearms, kidnapping, and drug trafficking.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, due process of law is applied in all cases, a human right that, if applied correctly, means that international law does not prohibit the use of death.
However, there is always firewood to cut on efficiency. Press outlets such as the Spanish ‘El país’ echoed in the year 2018 of a government statistic from Singapore in which it states that “between 2003 and 2016 the number of drug users practically doubled.”
“The culture of zero tolerance towards drugs is based on the assumption that this is how we are safe. But there is no concrete evidence, studies or figures to back it up.”, expressed the newspaper citing the opinion of an expert.
Just in 2019, the Singaporean MHA conducted a survey of about 2,000 citizens. They were asked their opinion on the death penalty, a procedure supported by the majority of those questioned. According to Interior, the inhabitants of the city-state understand the “deterrent” value of dying beyond life imprisonment.
Other local law enforcement cases
in the year 2015 met the case of two Germans who painted with graffiti one of the cars of the country’s railway network. They were sentenced to nine months in prison and three lashes with a wooden rod for vandalism. The defendants were then 21 and 22 years old.
Both fled the country, but were found thanks to an international order and later extradited to appear before Justice.
A Swiss citizen was also convicted of a similar offence. He suffered the same fate as the Germans in terms of punishment. The maximum sanction for this type of behavior consists in a fine not to exceed $2,000, imprisonment for not more than three years, and corporal punishment with not less than three and more than eight lashes.
With EFE and local media
#Singapore #executes #woman #drug #trafficking #years